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American Hardcore (2006)
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Reviews Counted:61
Fresh:44
Rotten:17
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: American Hardcore is an informative and highly entertaining look at the heyday of punk in the early 1980s.
Theatrical Release:Sep 22, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: True hardcore fans may balk at the fact that this vibrant document of a scene that prided itself on some staunchly anti-corporate ethics is being distributed by business behemoth Sony, but they... [More]
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Reviews for American Hardcore
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 C- |
For a documentary ostensibly about the history of the hardcore punk music movement that reigned in America during the '80s, director Paul Rachman and writer Steven Blush indefensibly omit the genre's most talented and high-profile band (The Dead Kennedys) Full Review |
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 3/4 |
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Struggles under the weight of its own ambition. Full Review |
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3/4 |
The hit-and-run effect sometimes suggests a documentary equivalent to slam dancing, but without the bruises. Full Review |
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Rachman's chronicle suffers not from a shortage of authentic footage of ready-made hardcore shows, complete with (completely necessary) subtitled lyrics, or doughy, balding, talking heads still bragging about the thrown punches and peed-on chicks of yeste Full Review |
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A film for the fans, especially if you were one of those sonic youths venting steam at a guerrilla show in someone's basement, a VFW hall or club that condescended to present a hardcore show. For once-upon-a-time kids now irrevocably middle-aged, the kick Full Review |
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84/100 |
AmericanHardcore ! Aboutboredstupidyouth! Didn'tliketheNewWave ! Gomoshin'fortruth ! Can'tfindtruth ! Can'tfindgrace ! SettleforHenryRollins! Punchin'dudesintheface ! Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
While this documentary features rare performance footage of hard-core punk-rock bands Black Flag and Bad Brains, it's not exactly the best-assembled or deepest cinematic exploration of the subject. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
... an enjoyable if incomplete nostalgia trip. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Rachman's concert footage confirms that the music was unique: bruising, chaotic and blisteringly electric. Full Review |
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3/4 |
"American Hardcore" harkens back to the time when punk rockers were actual punks, not whining, prefabricated MTV pretty boys. Full Review |
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C |
The movie preaches to the choir, and bores everyone else. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Crammed with grainy, shot-on-the-fly mid-Eighties video footage, recent interviews, and a genuine love for its subject, American Hardcore encapsulates a largely forgotten moment in maximum rock & roll history. Full Review |
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B- |
It's a great subject for a documentary, and director Paul Rachman does a good job of rounding up period footage and contemporary interviews. But for all its noise, his film is weirdly flabby. Full Review |
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3/4 |
American Hardcore, Paul Rachman's impressively thorough documentary, tells of the second-generation punk rockers who learned from the Sex Pistols and Ramones and then did their DIY thing. Full Review |
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If band names like Circle Jerks, D.O.A., Dead Kennedys and Minor Threat resonate with you, then this documentary celebrating their short-lived, pummeling breed of thrash-and-burn rock music will surely get your blood boiling all over again. Full Review |
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3/4 |
American Hardcore gets what most music lovers could not at the time: Sometimes, that noise in your head and that anger in your heart just has to get out, and there's always a guitar around somewhere. Full Review |
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2/4 |
For the record, Rachman's punk-rockology has its cracks. While he worships at the altar of Henry Rollins and Black Flag, he excludes such key West Coast bands as X and the Dead Kennedys. Full Review |
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